System and method for utilizing vouchers to facilitate purchases in association with a gaming establishment retail account

ABSTRACT

A system and method that utilize a ticket voucher complete one or more purchases of goods and/or services from a retail establishment.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a continuation of, claims the benefit of andpriority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/350,711, filed on Jun.17, 2021, which is a continuation of, claims the benefit of and priorityto U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/579,115, filed on Sep. 23, 2019,the entire contents of which are each incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technical field of the present disclosure is that of systems andmethods that utilize utilizes a ticket voucher to complete one or morepurchases of goods and/or services from a retail establishment.

BACKGROUND

Gaming machines may provide players awards in primary games. Gamingmachines generally require the player to place a wager to activate theprimary game. The award may be based on the player obtaining a winningsymbol or symbol combination and on the amount of the wager.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In certain embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a systemincluding a processor and a memory device that stores a plurality ofinstructions. When executed by the processor in association with anattempted purchase at a point-of-sale terminal of a retail system, theinstructions cause the processor to determine, based on a balance of agaming establishment account associated with a user and an amount of theattempted purchase, if a ticket voucher creation event occurs. Whenexecuted by the processor responsive to the ticket voucher creationevent occurring, the instructions cause the processor to cause a ticketvoucher to be created, and transfer an amount of funds associated withthe amount of the purchase from the gaming establishment account tobeing associated with the ticket voucher.

In certain embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a systemincluding a processor and a memory device that stores a plurality ofinstructions. When executed by the processor following a creation of aticket voucher associated with an amount of funds transferred from agaming establishment account in association with a purchase at apoint-of-sale terminal of a retail system, the instructions cause theprocessor to receive, via an input device, data associated with aredemption of the ticket voucher. When executed by the processorresponsive to an authorization of the redemption of the ticket voucher,the instructions cause the processor to initiate a transfer of theamount of funds associated with the ticket voucher to an accountassociated with the retail system.

In certain embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a method of asystem, the method including, in association with an attempted purchaseat a point-of-sale terminal of a retail system, determining, by aprocessor and based on a balance of a gaming establishment accountassociated with a user and an amount of the attempted purchase, if aticket voucher creation event occurs. Responsive to the ticket vouchercreation event occurring, the method includes causing a ticket voucherto be created, and transferring, by the processor, an amount of fundsassociated with the amount of the purchase from the gaming establishmentaccount to being associated with the ticket voucher.

Additional features are described herein, and will be apparent from thefollowing Detailed Description and the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example configuration of the architecture of a plurality ofdifferent components of the system disclosed herein.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are example graphical user interfaces displayed ona mobile device in connection with utilizing a virtual ticket voucherprocured in association with a retail purchase.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the interactions between a retailsystem, a gaming establishment fund management system and a ticketvoucher system in association with producing a ticket voucher inassociation with a retail purchase.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the interactions between a retailsystem, a gaming establishment fund management system and a ticketvoucher system in association with redeeming a ticket voucher utilizedin association with a retail purchase.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In various embodiments, the system and method disclosed herein utilizesa ticket voucher to complete one or more purchases of goods and/orservices from a retail establishment.

In certain embodiments, the system enables a user to procure a ticketvoucher (i.e., an anonymous bearer instrument redeemable for cash, gameplay on a gaming establishment device, and/or to fund certaintransactions, such as transactions associated with a retailestablishment) using an amount of funds maintained in a gamingestablishment account associated with the user. In these embodiments,after establishing and funding a gaming establishment account, such as agaming establishment retail account, the system enables a user topurchase a ticket voucher with or using part or all of the funds from agaming establishment account. In different embodiments, the systemenables a user to utilize one or more devices, such as an electronicgaming machine (“EGM”), a kiosk, a gaming establishment interface or amobile device running an application associated with the gaming system,to facilitate the transfer of an amount of funds from the maintainedgaming establishment account to a ticket voucher system in order topurchase a ticket voucher.

In certain embodiments, the system enables a user to procure a ticketvoucher using an amount of funds independent of any funds maintained inany gaming establishment account associated with the user. In suchembodiments, the system enables a user to deposit an amount of cash (orother funds) in association with one or more devices, such as an EGM, akiosk, or a gaming establishment interface in exchange for the issuanceof a ticket voucher by the ticket voucher system.

It should be appreciated that regardless of how a ticket voucher isobtained, such a ticket voucher is associated with ticket voucheridentification information, such as a ticket voucher identifier and anamount of funds associated with the ticket voucher identifier. Moreover,in different embodiments, such an obtained ticket voucher may take theform of a paper ticket voucher or a virtual ticket voucher. In theseembodiments, a virtual ticket voucher is no different than a paperticket voucher in the sense that users are free to use such virtualticket vouchers to redeem for cash, to fund game play on a gamingestablishment device, and/or to fund certain retail transactions with aretail system.

Following the procurement of a ticket voucher, the system enables theuser to utilize the obtained ticket voucher to complete a retailpurchase with a retail establishment. In certain embodiments, the retailpurchase is completed using the purchased (or otherwise obtained) ticketvoucher as the sole purchase funding instrument in the retailtransaction. In other embodiments, in view of spending limits imposed bycertain regulations on individual pre-paid cards and in view of certainpurchases costing more than these spending limits, the retail purchaseis completed using a combination of one or more pre-paid cards (to fundthe amount of the purchase up to the imposed spending limit) and one ormore purchased (or otherwise obtained) ticket vouchers (to fund theamount of the purchase above the imposed spending limit on the pre-paidcard) as the purchase funding instruments in the retail transaction.

In certain embodiments wherein the ticket voucher utilized in theattempted retail transaction is in paper form, the purchase is completedvia the user presenting the obtained paper ticket voucher to the retailestablishment for the purchase of goods and/or services. In theseembodiments, following the presentation of the paper ticket voucher, acomponent of the retail system, such as a point-of-sale terminal,captures data associated with the paper ticket voucher and communicateswith a ticket voucher system to confirm that the presented paper ticketvoucher is associated with an adequate amount of funds for the intendedpurchase. If the ticket voucher system indicates that the presentedpaper ticket voucher lacks an adequate amount of funds for the intendedpurchase, the retail system denies the sale transaction of the goodsand/or services and the retail establishment does not take possession ofthe paper ticket voucher. On the other hand, if the ticket vouchersystem confirms the presence of an adequate amount of funds associatedwith the presented paper ticket voucher, the retail system authorizesthe sale of the goods and/or services and the retail establishment takespossession of the presented paper ticket voucher. In certainembodiments, since the paper ticket voucher is redeemable for cash, theretail establishment can subsequently redeem the obtained paper ticketvoucher for a corresponding amount of cash at a redemption kiosk orgaming establishment interface, such as a casino cage. In certainembodiments, if the retail establishment has access to a vouchervalidation unit, the retail establishment can scan each paper ticketvoucher to redeem that obtained paper ticket voucher by initiating afund transfer wherein an amount of funds corresponding to the amount ofthe redeemed paper ticket voucher is transferred from a gamingestablishment account which backs the ticket voucher system, such as abanking account associated with the gaming establishment to a retailestablishment account, such as a banking account associated with theretail establishment, and the ticket voucher system reduces the amountof funds associated with the ticket voucher identifier of the redeemedpaper ticket voucher to account for the fund transfer.

In certain embodiments wherein the ticket voucher utilized in theattempted retail transaction is in virtual form, the purchase iscompleted via transferring virtual ticket voucher data from a gamingestablishment account associated with the user to an account associatedwith the retail establishment. In these embodiments, following theprocurement of a virtual ticket voucher, the user presents a retailwallet identity (i.e., a physical card associated with a gamingestablishment account associated with a virtual ticket voucher or amobile device running a mobile device application associated with agaming establishment account associated with a virtual ticket voucher ora mobile device running a mobile device application associated with avirtual ticket voucher independent of any gaming establishment account)at an applicable terminal of the retail system, such as a point-of-saleterminal. In certain embodiments, the user then utilizes one or moreinterfaces, such an application running on a mobile device or acomponent of the point-of-sale terminal, to identify a virtual ticketvoucher maintained in association with the gaming establishment accountwhich is to be transferred to the retail system to complete the intendedpurchase. In certain embodiments, the system automatically procures avirtual ticket voucher (from funds maintained in associated with agaming establishment account), identifies the procured virtual ticketvoucher and transfers data associated with that virtual ticket voucherto facilitate an attempted retail transaction. In these embodiments,upon receiving data associated with a virtual ticket voucher to fund theattempted retail transaction, the retail system communicates with theticket voucher system to confirm that the identified virtual ticketvoucher is associated with an adequate amount of funds for the intendedpurchase. If the ticket voucher system confirms the presence of anadequate amount of funds associated with the identified virtual ticketvoucher associated with the gaming establishment account, the retailsystem authorizes the sale of the goods and/or services and communicatesdata to the ticket voucher system to authorize the transfer of theidentified virtual ticket voucher from being maintained in associationwith the gaming establishment account of the user to being maintained inassociation with an account of the retail establishment. In theseembodiments, since the virtual ticket voucher is a bearer instrument,the retail establishment can subsequently redeem the obtained virtualticket voucher by initiating a fund transfer wherein an amount of fundscorresponding to the amount of the redeemed virtual ticket voucher istransferred from a gaming establishment account which backs the ticketvoucher system, such as a banking account associated with the gamingestablishment to a retail establishment account, such as a bankingaccount associated with the retail establishment, and the ticket vouchersystem reduces the amount of funds associated with the ticket voucheridentifier of the redeemed virtual ticket voucher to account for thefund transfer. In another embodiment, the user informs the retail pointof sale terminal of the validation number of the virtual ticket voucherthat they hold and the point of sale terminal can initiate a redemptiontransaction with the gaming establishment ticketing system (i.e., thevirtual ticket voucher is automatically redeemed when the user attemptsto purchase a good and/or service at a retail establishment).

It should be appreciated that utilizing ticket vouchers to completeretail purchases reduces the amount of cash which a user may carry to beused for purchasing goods and/or services and thus diminishes the risksthat such cash may be lost or stolen (which is associated with variouscosts to the player and the gaming establishment) prior to the retailpurchase. As such, the utilization of ticket vouchers to complete one ormore retail transactions (and without utilizing any physical forms ofcurrency) expands the cashless eco-system certain gaming systems strivefor and thus overcomes various security concerns and labor cost concernsassociated with cash-based retail transactions. Moreover, completingretail purchases utilizing purchased ticket vouchers with fundsassociated with one or more gaming establishment accounts maintained fora user enables the user to obtain certain benefits associated with useof such funds while adhering to various financial regulations associatedwith such different accounts. Furthermore, the system disclosed hereinincreases the efficiency of fund moving between the gambling space of agaming establishment and the retail space of the gaming establishment asplayers have the freedom to more easily spend their winnings at thegaming establishment without having to convert their winnings to cash asmuch and as operators benefit from minimizing the need to convert gamingtickets to physical cash (which is relatively expensive for the casinoto maintain). Additionally, the utilization of ticket vouchers tocomplete one or more retail transactions (and without utilizing anyphysical forms of currency) reduces the use of credit cards within theretail establishments of a gaming establishment and thus reduces creditcard processing fees (and the associated costs which may be passed ontoretail consumers).

System Accounts

In various embodiments, the system disclosed herein includes variouscomponents or sub-systems that are each associated with or otherwisemaintain one or more electronic or virtual accounts. In theseembodiments, the various accounts maintained for a user collectivelyform a resort or enterprise account (i.e., a gaming establishment fundmanagement account) for the user. That is, the collection of cashlesswagering accounts (i.e., cashless wagering wallets) and gamingestablishment retail accounts (i.e., gaming establishment retailwallets) associated with or otherwise maintained for a user, such as aplayer, collectively form a resort or enterprise account (i.e., anintegrated resort or gaming establishment fund management wallet) thatthe user, such as a player, may access to transfer funds and/or viewbalance information amongst the various accounts associated with orotherwise maintained for the player or user. As such, the systemincludes one or more gaming establishment fund management systems thatare each associated with or otherwise maintain one or more gamingestablishment fund management accounts for a user.

In various embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management systemincludes one or more cashless wagering systems that are each associatedwith or otherwise maintain one or more cashless wagering accounts. Incertain embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management systemincludes a first cashless wagering system that maintains a firstcashless wagering account, wherein a user utilizes a mobile deviceapplication running on a mobile device to facilitate the electronictransfer of any funds between this first cashless wagering account andan EGM. For example, as seen in FIG. 1 , the resort wallet 102 includesor is otherwise in communication with a Sports/Mobile Wallet 104 (i.e.,a first cashless wagering account maintained by a first cashlesswagering system) accessible via the mobile device 210 running a mobiledevice application as described herein.

In certain embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management systemadditionally or alternatively includes a second cashless wagering systemthat maintains a second cashless wagering account associated with aphysical instrument, such as a user issued magnetic striped card. Inthese embodiments, a user utilizes the physical instrument (e.g., viainserting the card into a player tracking unit associated with an EGM)to facilitate the electronic transfer of any funds between this secondcashless wagering account and the EGM. Continuing with the example, asseen in FIG. 1 , the resort wallet 102 also includes or is otherwise incommunication with a Casino Wallet 106 (i.e., a second cashless wageringaccount maintained by a second cashless wagering system) accessible viaa physical instrument, such as a user issued magnetic striped cardassociated with the second cashless wagering system 108 or a mobiledevice associated with the second cashless wagering system.

In various embodiments, in addition to or an alternative of maintainingone or more cashless wagering accounts via one or more cashless wageringsystems, the gaming establishment fund management system includes one ormore gaming establishment retail systems, such as a system of a retailestablishment of a gaming establishment or a system of a third-partyretail establishment separate from but otherwise associated with thegaming establishment. In these embodiments, each gaming establishmentretail system maintain one or more gaming establishment retail accounts.Such a gaming establishment retail account (i.e., a gaming establishmentretail wallet) of a gaming establishment retail system integrates withvarious retail point-of-sale systems throughout the gaming establishmentto enable users to purchase goods and/or services via the user's gamingestablishment retail account. Continuing with this example, as seen inFIG. 1 , the resort wallet 102 further includes or is otherwise incommunication with a Retail Wallet 110 (i.e., a gaming establishmentretail account maintained by a gaming establishment retail system)accessible via a point-of-sale terminal 112 associated with a gamingestablishment.

It should be appreciated that in various embodiments, a gamingestablishment retail account is a retail account with a balance or apre-paid access account which, per current regulations from the U.S.Treasury Department Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”),cannot be convertible to cash and can only be used for the purchase ofgoods and/or services. Such a gaming establishment retail account (i.e.,a gaming establishment retail wallet) of a gaming establishment retailsystem integrates with various retail point-of-sale systems of variousretail establishments throughout or otherwise associated with a gamingestablishment to enable users to purchase ticket vouchers, goods and/orservices via the user's gaming establishment retail account. That is,while an amount of funds deposited in a gaming establishment retailaccount may be used with various retail point-of-sale systems throughoutthe gaming establishment to enable users to purchase goods and/orservices, such funds deposited in the gaming establishment retailaccount cannot be converted to cash.

In various embodiments, in addition to or an alternative of maintainingone or more gaming establishment retail accounts via one or more gamingestablishment retail systems, the gaming establishment fund managementsystem is in communication with a ticket voucher system 114. The ticketvoucher system includes one or more servers which store, in one or moredatabases, ticket voucher identification information associated witheach ticket voucher created by the ticket voucher system, such asidentifying information, value information, and/or activity information.In addition to maintaining information associated with each ticketvoucher, the ticket voucher system includes one or more voucher systemcomponents associated with the gaming establishment retail system, suchas a ticket voucher printer 116 configured to print purchased paperticket vouchers as well as a ticket voucher validator 118 (which may bepart of or separate from the point-of-sale terminal 112) configured tovalidate ticket vouchers for redemption. In the illustrated example, thevoucher printer and the voucher validator are both associated with theretail establishment to enable the retail establishment to conductbusiness using ticket vouchers as a form of payment for goods and/orservices.

In certain embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management systemis in communication with one or more external funding sources whichmaintain one or more external accounts for the user, such as, but notlimited to, one or more credit card accounts maintained by one or morefinancial institutions, one or more debit card accounts maintained byone or more banks or credit unions, one or more financial institutionaccounts, such as a brokerage account, maintained by one or morefinancial institutions and/or one or more third-party maintainedaccounts (e.g., one or more PayPal® accounts or Venmo® accounts). Forexample, as seen in FIG. 1 , the resort wallet 102 (i.e., the gamingestablishment fund management account) is in communication with anetwork of one or more banks or other financial institutions (i.e., thebanking networks 120) which, as described below, operate toelectronically transfer funds from the user's accounts maintained assuch banks or financial institutions to the gaming establishment fundmanagement system. In certain embodiments, such a network of one or morebanks or other financial institutions includes or is in communicationwith a payment processor 122 which processes the movement of fundsbetween one or more banking accounts which back the amount of fundsassociated with one or more ticket vouchers and one or more bankingaccounts associated with a retail establishment that accepts ticketvouchers as a form of payment for goods and/or services.

It should be appreciated that while illustrated as the gamingestablishment fund management system being in communication with one ormore external funding sources and ticket voucher systems, in differentembodiments, any component or sub-system described herein can be incommunication with one or more external funding sources and/or ticketvoucher systems. For example, the gaming establishment retail systemwhich maintains one or more gaming establishment retail accounts inassociation with a user may be in communication with a ticket vouchersystem. It should be further appreciated that in different embodiments,the system utilizes a mobile device running a mobile device application,a kiosk, an EGM, a remote host controller service window displayed by anEGM and/or a gaming establishment interface, such as a casino desk, tofacilitate the transfer of funds between one or more gamingestablishment accounts and a third-party account, between one or moregaming establishment accounts and a ticket voucher system and/or betweendifferent gaming establishment accounts disclosed herein.

In certain embodiments (not shown), the gaming establishment fundmanagement system (which maintains a gaming establishment fundmanagement account or resort wallet for a user) is in communication withone or more credit systems that each issue the user one or more lines ofcredit or markers and/or one or more credit reporting/credit risksystems that monitor and report on various accounts associated with theuser. It should be appreciated that while described as the gamingestablishment fund management system being in communication with one ormore credit systems and/or one or more credit reporting/credit risksystems, in different embodiments, any component or sub-system describedherein can be in communication with one or more credit systems and/orone or more credit reporting/credit risk systems.

Retail Transactions Utilizing Ticket Vouchers

In various embodiments, prior to utilizing any ticket vouchers topurchase any goods and/or services from a retail establishment, anamount of funds must be converted to one or more ticket vouchers.

In certain embodiments, the system enables an amount of funds depositedin an EGM to be converted to one or more ticket vouchers. In one suchembodiment, the system enables a user that has an amount of cash (orother forms of payment as disclosed herein) to utilize an EGM to convertthe cash to one or more ticket vouchers via the user first depositingthe amount of cash into the EGM and then subsequently cashing out(either pre or post any gaming activity) an amount of a credit balanceof the EGM in exchange for a ticket voucher. In another such embodiment,the system enables a user that has one or more printed ticket vouchersto utilize an EGM to convert the printed ticket voucher(s) to a virtualticket voucher associated with a gaming establishment account maintainedfor the user. In another such embodiment, the system enables a user thathas one or more printed ticket vouchers to utilize an EGM to convert theprinted ticket voucher(s) to an anonymous virtual ticket voucherassociated with a mobile device

In certain embodiments, the system enables an amount of funds depositedin a kiosk to be converted to one or more ticket vouchers. In one suchembodiment, the system enables a user that has an amount of cash (orother forms of payment as disclosed herein) to utilize a kiosk toconvert the cash to one or more ticket vouchers via the user depositingthe amount of cash into the kiosk and then subsequently cashing out thedeposited amount in exchange for a ticket voucher. In another suchembodiment, the system enables a user that has one or more printedticket vouchers to utilize a kiosk to convert the printed ticketvoucher(s) to a virtual ticket voucher associated with a gamingestablishment account maintained for the user. In another suchembodiment, the system enables a user that has one or more printedticket vouchers to utilize a kiosk to convert the printed ticketvoucher(s) to an anonymous virtual ticket voucher associated with amobile device.

In certain embodiments, the system enables an amount of funds providedto a gaming establishment interface, such as a casino desk or cage, tobe converted to one or more ticket vouchers. In one such embodiment, thesystem enables a user that has an amount of cash (or other forms ofpayment as disclosed herein) to utilize a gaming establishment interfaceto convert the cash to one or more ticket vouchers via the userproviding the amount of cash to the gaming establishment interface inexchange for a ticket voucher. In another such embodiment, the systemenables a user that has one or more printed ticket vouchers to utilize agaming establishment interface to convert the printed ticket voucher(s)to a virtual ticket voucher associated with a gaming establishmentaccount maintained for the user. In another such embodiment, the systemenables a user that has one or more printed ticket vouchers to utilize agaming establishment interface to convert the printed ticket voucher(s)to an anonymous virtual ticket voucher associated with a mobile device.

In certain embodiments, the system enables an amount of funds providedto a retail interface, such as a kiosk or cashier at a retailestablishment, to be converted to one or more ticket vouchers. In onesuch embodiment, the system enables a user that has an amount of cash(or other forms of payment as disclosed herein) to utilize a retailinterface to convert the cash to one or more ticket vouchers via theuser providing the amount of cash to the retail interface in exchangefor a ticket voucher. It should be appreciated that in certainembodiments, the user converts an amount of cash (or other forms ofpayment) utilizing the retail interface as part of an attempted retailtransaction and in other embodiments, the user converts an amount ofcash (or other forms of payment) utilizing the retail interfaceindependent of an attempted retail transaction.

In certain embodiments, the system enables an amount of funds associatedwith a gaming establishment account maintained for the user, such as agaming establishment retail account or a cashless wagering account, topurchase a ticket voucher (either prior to or in association with aretail purchase of goods and/or services). In these embodiments, thesystem enables a user to transfer an amount of funds from a gamingestablishment account maintained for the user to a ticket voucher systemin exchange for a ticket voucher.

It should be appreciated that the system of this embodiment enablesfunds to move from different accounts within the different systemsassociated with a gaming establishment to one or more ticket voucherswhile adhering to various financial regulations associated with suchdifferent accounts. Such a configuration thus enables certain gamingestablishments and/or retail establishments to maintain a designatedclassification in accordance with U.S. Treasury Department regulationswithout modifying the user's ability to purchase goods and/or servicesfrom the retail establishment. That is, since certain gamingestablishments and/or retail establishments throughout or otherwiseassociated with a gaming establishment prefer to remain classified asnon-money services businesses per current regulations, the use ofpurchasing ticket vouchers to facilitate the purchasing of goods and/orservices enables such gaming establishments and/or retail establishmentsto bypass being classified as money services businesses while stilloffering retail consumers the ability to purchase goods and/or serviceswith funds maintained in one or more gaming establishment accounts.

In certain embodiments wherein funds from a gaming establishment accountare potentially used to complete a retail transaction via the purchaseof a ticket voucher, when a user attempts to purchase one or more ticketvouchers, the system determines whether to authorize the transfer of anamount of funds from the gaming establishment account maintained by thesystem to the ticket voucher system. If the system determines not toauthorize the amount of funds, the system communicates a denial to theuser and does not issue any ticket vouchers. For example, the systemutilizes a mobile application running on a mobile device to convey tothe user that an amount of funds will not be converted to a ticketvoucher. On the other hand, if the system determines to authorize theamount of funds, the system updates the gaming establishment accountassociated with the user (to reflect a reduction of the amount of funds)and communicates an authorization to the ticket voucher system. Theticket voucher system then creates a ticket voucher associated with thetransferred amount of funds. As such, upon a ticket voucher creationevent that occurs in association with an attempted retail transaction,the system disclosed herein creates a ticket voucher as a form ofpayment (or partial payment) for the retail transaction.

It should be appreciated that since a created ticket voucher may takemultiple forms, the system disclosed herein includes multiple ways toconvey such a created ticket voucher to the user. In one embodimentwherein the created ticket voucher takes the form of a paper ticketvoucher, the ticket voucher system causes a ticket voucher printer toprint the created ticket voucher. In one such embodiment wherein thecreation of the paper ticket voucher occurs in association with thepurchase of goods and/or services at a retail establishment, a ticketvoucher printer at the retail establishment prints the created ticketvoucher for the retail transaction. In another embodiment wherein thecreated ticket voucher takes the form of a virtual ticket voucher, theticket voucher system communicates data to a device associated with theuser, such as a mobile device running an application associated with theticket voucher system, to transfer the created virtual ticket voucher tothe user.

Following the user obtaining one or more ticket vouchers, such as thesystem issuing a ticket voucher as part of an attempted purchase ofgoods and/or services, the system enables a user to utilize one or moreticket vouchers to purchase goods and/or services from a retailestablishment.

In one embodiment wherein the ticket voucher takes the form of a paperticket voucher, the user attempts to complete a purchase of goods and/orservices from the retail establishment by providing the paper ticketvoucher to the retail establishment. In this embodiment, upon receivingthe paper ticket voucher, a point-of-sale terminal (“POST”) (or acomponent of a gaming establishment management system and/or a componentof a gaming establishment retail system located inside the POST (i.e., acomponent of the POST)) at the retail establishment scans the paperticket voucher to obtain identifying information associated with thepresented paper ticket voucher. The POST (or a component of a gamingestablishment management system and/or a component of a gamingestablishment retail system located inside the POST) then operates withthe ticket voucher system to determine whether to authorize the purchaseof goods and/or services with the paper ticket voucher. That is, theretail establishment operates with the ticket voucher system todetermine whether the amount of funds associated with the paper ticketvoucher cover the cost of the goods and/or services attempted to bepurchased.

If the system determines not to authorize the purchase because theamount of funds associated with the paper ticket voucher are inadequateto pay for the goods and/or services from the retail establishment, thesystem communicates a denial, such as via a display device of the POST,and does not complete the purchase. In certain embodiments, the systeminforms the user of the balance of the paper ticket voucher and enablesthe user to present additional forms of payment, such as another ticketvoucher (which the system would need to subsequently authorize the useof) or cash, to supplement the presented paper ticket voucher topotentially complete the attempted retail transaction.

On the other hand, if the system determines to authorize the purchasebecause the amount of funds associated with the paper ticket voucher areadequate to pay for the goods and/or services, the system notifies theretail establishment, such as via a display device of the POST, of theapproved sale and informs the retail establishment to accept the paperticket voucher in exchange for the goods and/or services. It should beappreciated that since certain jurisdictions impose regulations thatrequire a physical piece of paper with the voucher information printedon it as part of the soft-count process to ensure cash and ticketvoucher accounting balances, the retail establishment receiving thepaper ticket voucher satisfies such jurisdictional regulations. In thesesituations, similar to a drop box of an EGM collecting paper ticketvouchers for accounting and taxation purposes, the POST of the retailestablishment functions as a drop box for collecting paper ticketvouchers for accounting and taxation purposes.

In one embodiment wherein the ticket voucher takes the form of a virtualticket voucher, to purchase goods and/or services utilizing a virtualticket voucher, the user presents a retail wallet identity (i.e., aphysical card associated with a gaming establishment account associatedwith a virtual ticket voucher or a mobile device running a mobile deviceapplication associated with a gaming establishment account associatedwith a virtual ticket voucher or a mobile device running a mobile deviceapplication associated with a virtual ticket voucher independent of anygaming establishment account) at an applicable terminal of thepoint-of-sale system for the purchase of goods and/or services. Forexample, to make a purchase of goods and/or services, a mobile deviceapplication prompts the user to cause the mobile device to engage thePOST, such as prompting the user to tap the mobile device to adesignated portion of the POST (or otherwise moving the mobile device towithin a designated distance of a designated location of the POST). Forexample, as seen in FIG. 2A, to make a purchase of goods and/or servicesfor $2500 and upon launching the application on the mobile device 210,the mobile device application 220 displays that the user has a $6000balance in their gaming establishment retail account (i.e., thedisplayed $6000 Retail Wallet Balance) and instructs the user to tap themobile device to the register (i.e., the point of sale terminal) tocomplete the $2500 purchase via the purchase of a virtual ticket voucherfor $2500. In this example, as seen in FIG. 2B, as part of the purchaseof the goods and/or services for $2500, the system proceeds to purchase,as described herein, a $2500.00 virtual ticket voucher (using part ofthe $6000.00 in the gaming establishment retail account) that becomesassociated with the gaming establishment retail account prior to beingtransferred to being associated with the retail establishment account.As seen in FIG. 2B, the purchase of the virtual ticket voucher as partof the attempted retail transaction leaves the user with, as seen viathe mobile device application 220 of the mobile device 210, a $3500balance in their gaming establishment retail account (i.e., thedisplayed $3500 Retail Wallet Balance) and a virtual ticket voucher of$2500. It should be appreciated that while this illustrated exampleincludes displaying to the user the purchase of a virtual ticket voucherto facilitate the attempted retail transaction, in certain embodiments,the system does not inform the user of the purchase of the virtualticket voucher but rather proceeds with the purchase of a virtual ticketvoucher and the subsequent transfer of the virtual ticket voucher to theretail establishment as part of the retail transaction without the userbeing informed of such steps.

In certain embodiments wherein the retail wallet identity utilizes amobile device application associated with a gaming establishment accountassociated with a virtual ticket voucher, the mobile device applicationutilized is a location based digital wallet enabled application, such asa Passbook-enabled or Wallet-enabled application, which is accessiblewhen the user enters a gaming establishment and/or the retailestablishment. In certain embodiments, the mobile device applicationutilized is downloaded to the mobile device from an application store.In certain embodiments, the mobile device application utilized isdownloaded to the mobile device from one or more websites affiliatedwith the gaming establishment and/or the retail establishment (which areaccessible directly by the user and/or by a link opened when the userscans a QR code associated with the POST).

In certain embodiments wherein the retail wallet identity utilizes amobile device application associated with a gaming establishment accountassociated with a virtual ticket voucher, after a user has opened anapplication on a mobile device and selected an action to be performed(such as a selection of an icon displayed by an application of themobile device which represents a virtual ticket voucher to be redeemedfor the purchase of goods and/or services and/or a selection to of anicon displayed by an application of the mobile device which representsto purchase an amount of goods and/or services (with or without the userknowing that the purchase is completed via the initial purchase of aticket voucher and the subsequent exchange of the purchased ticketvoucher for the goods and/or services), the system determines if themobile device application is associated with an active authorizationtoken previously created by the system. In these embodiments, anauthorization token is a time-based token which expires after adesignated period of time and which is associated with an additionallevel of user authentication beyond a user's application username andapplication password.

If the system determines that the application is not associated with anactive authorization token previously created by the system, the mobiledevice application prompts the user to provide identifying information,such as a personal identification number or biometric identifier. Themobile device application stores the provided identifying information asmobile device encrypted data. Following the user providing identifyinginformation, the mobile device application prompts the user to cause themobile device to engage the POST (or a component of the POST), such asprompting the user to tap the mobile device to a designated portion ofthe POST. It should be appreciated that any reference herein to a usertapping the mobile device to a designated portion of the POST (or acomponent of the POST) may or may not include the user pressing afingerprint scanner (if the mobile device is equipped with such afingerprint scanner) while concurrently engaging the POST (or acomponent of the POST). In other embodiments, the mobile deviceapplication verifies the identifying information of the user bycommunicating with a verification/authentication server over one or morewireless communication protocols, such as WiFi protocol, a cellularcommunication protocol (e.g., 3G or LTE), to obtain the activeauthorization token.

In certain embodiments, following the user causing the mobile device toengage the POST (e.g., the user taps the mobile device to designatedlocation(s) of the POST), the mobile device application communicates,via a wireless communication protocol, the provided identifyinginformation and the requested action to be performed to the POST (or toa component associated with the POST). For example, upon the usertapping the mobile device to a designated location of the POST (orotherwise moving the mobile device to within a designated distance ofthe designated locations of the POST), the mobile device applicationsends the identifying information and the requested action to acomponent of a gaming establishment management system and/or a componentof a gaming establishment retail system located inside the POST (i.e., acomponent of the POST).

Following the communication of the identifying information and therequested action to the POST (or a component associated with the POST),the system determines if the identifying information is valid. Forexample, a designated system component configured to operate with thegaming establishment retail system determines whether the identifyinginformation is valid.

If the system determines that the identifying information is invalid,the system communicates an invalid identifying information response tothe mobile device. For example, an identifying information statusmessage is communicated to the mobile device which reports whether theidentifying information is valid or invalid. The mobile deviceapplication then displays one or more messages regarding the invalididentifying information and prompts the user to provide identifyinginformation, such as a personal identification number or biometricidentifier. In certain such embodiments, if the mobile device receives acommunication that the identifying information is invalid (oralternatively in association with the initial creation of a token) andif the mobile device includes a fingerprint scanner, the mobile deviceapplication prompts the user to press the fingerprint scanner whileengaging the POST, such as tapping the mobile device to a designatedportion of the POST.

On the other hand, if the system determines that the identifyinginformation is valid, the system creates an authorization token. Thesystem associates the authorization token with a timestamp of when theauthorization token will expire. In certain embodiments, a systemincludes a key distribution center which generates a session key toencrypt all cashless messages. The session key is rotated periodicallyat a configurable rate from 1 hour to 24 hours. In these embodiments,the system utilizes this session key to sign the token data and create atoken. As such, the token time-to-live will be less than or equal to thesession key rotation period. In other embodiments, such authorizationtokens are managed utilizing software (and not a key distributioncenter).

Following the creation of an authorization token, the systemcommunicates the created authorization token to the mobile device, suchas via one or more messages including the created authorization token,for storage by the mobile device application and proceeds with executingone or more of the requested actions and communicating a requestedaction response to the mobile device. For example, upon the creation ofthe authorization token, the component of a gaming establishmentmanagement system located inside the POST (i.e., a component of thePOST), communicates the created authorization token to the mobile deviceand proceeds with executing or otherwise initiating the execution of therequested action.

On the other hand, following a determination that the mobile deviceapplication is associated with a previously created and storedauthentication token, the mobile device application prompts the user tocause the mobile device to engage the POST, such as prompting the userto tap the mobile device to a designated portion of the POST.

Following the user causing the mobile device to engage the POST (e.g.,the user taps the mobile device to a designated location of the POST),the mobile device application communicates, via a wireless communicationprotocol, the previously stored authorization token and the requestedaction to be performed to the POST (or to a component associated withthe POST). For example, upon the user tapping the mobile device to auser tracking card reader or other designated location(s) of the POST,the mobile device application sends the stored authorization token andthe requested action to a component of a gaming establishment managementsystem and/or a component of a gaming establishment retail systemlocated inside the POST (i.e., a component of the POST).

Following the communication of the stored authorization token and therequested action to the POST or a component associated with the POST,the system determines if the communicated authorization token is stillvalid. For example, a system component configured to operate with agaming establishment retail system determines whether the authorizationtoken is valid (i.e., active and non-expired).

If the system determines that the communication authorization token isinvalid, the system communicates an invalid authorization token responseto the mobile device. The mobile device application then displays one ormore messages regarding the invalid authorization token and prompts theuser to provide identifying information, such as a personalidentification number or biometric identifier, to obtain anotherauthentication token.

On the other hand, if the system determines that the storedauthorization token is valid, the system proceeds with executing therequested action. For example, upon the determination that thecommunicated authorization token is valid, the component of a gamingestablishment management system located inside the POST proceeds withexecuting the requested action and communicates a requested actionresponse to the mobile device.

In certain embodiments, following the presentation of the retail walletidentity to the POST, following the procurement of a virtual ticketvoucher in association with the attempted retail transaction and uponreceiving data or information regarding the retail wallet identity andidentifying information associated with a virtual ticket voucher, thePOST (or a component of a gaming establishment management system and/ora component of a gaming establishment retail system located inside thePOST (i.e., a component of the POST)) operates with the ticket vouchersystem to determine whether to authorize the purchase of goods and/orservices with a virtual ticket voucher. That is, the retailestablishment operates with the ticket voucher system to determinewhether the amount of funds associated with the virtual ticket vouchercover the cost of the goods and/or services attempted to be purchased.It should be appreciated that while the system procures a virtual ticketvoucher in association with certain retail transactions (wherein theprocured virtual ticket voucher should be associated with an amount offunds to cover the cost of the goods and/or services attempted to bepurchased), in certain situations wherein the user attempts to utilize apreviously obtained virtual ticket voucher for a retail transaction, thepreviously obtained virtual ticket voucher may or may not be associatedwith an amount of funds to cover the cost of the goods and/or servicesattempted to be purchased.

If the system determines not to authorize the purchase because theamount of funds associated with the virtual ticket voucher areinadequate to pay for the goods and/or services from the retailestablishment, the system communicates a denial, such as via a displaydevice of the POST and/or the application running on the mobile device,and does not complete the purchase. In certain embodiments, the systeminforms the user of the balance of the virtual ticket voucher andenables the user to present additional forms of payment, such as anothervirtual ticket voucher (which the system would need to subsequentlyauthorize the use of) or cash, to supplement the presented virtualticket voucher to potentially complete the attempted retail transaction.

On the other hand, if the system determines to authorize the purchasebecause the amount of funds associated with the virtual ticket voucherare adequate to pay for the goods and/or services, in certainembodiments, the system notifies the retail establishment, such as via adisplay device of the POST, of the approved sale and proceeds totransfer the virtual ticket voucher from being associated with the userto being associated with the retail establishment. For example, as seenin FIG. 2C, in association with the purchase of the goods and/orservices for $2500, the system transfers the purchased $2500 virtualticket voucher from being associated with the gaming establishmentretail account maintained for the user to the account maintained for theretail establishment (resulting in the $2500 virtual ticket voucher nolonger being displayed by the mobile device application) leaving theuser with, as seen via the mobile device application 220 of the mobiledevice 210, a $3500 balance in their gaming establishment retail account(i.e., the displayed $3500 Retail Wallet Balance). Following thetransfer the virtual ticket voucher from being associated with the userto being associated with the retail establishment (and a confirmation oftransfer being displayed, such as via a display device of the POST, tothe retail establishment to provide the purchased goods and/or servicesto the user), the system deems the purchase as complete. In otherembodiments, if the system determines to authorize the purchase becausethe amount of funds associated with the virtual ticket voucher areadequate to pay for the goods and/or services, in certain embodiments,the system notifies the retail establishment, such as via a displaydevice of the POST, of the approved sale and the retail establishmentproceeds to redeem the ticket voucher for an amount of funds (ratherthan hold the ticket voucher and run the risk that the user, who mayknow the validation identifier of the ticket voucher, attempts to usethat ticket voucher at another location).

In certain embodiments, the transfer of a virtual ticket voucher occursvia the mobile device of the user communicating data or information tothe ticket voucher system regarding the virtual ticket voucher to betransferred. In these embodiments, for each virtual ticket voucher to betransferred, the mobile device application of the mobile device of theuser communicates to the ticket voucher system the virtual ticketvoucher identification information. In these embodiments, the mobiledevice application of the mobile device communicates the virtual ticketvoucher identifying information to the ticket voucher system over one ormore wireless communication protocols including, but not limited to:Bluetooth™, Bluetooth™ Low Energy (“BLE”), one or more cellularcommunication standards (e.g., 3G, 4G, LTE), one or more Wi-Ficompatible standards, and one or more short range communicationprotocols (e.g., a near field communication (“NFC”) protocol).

In various embodiments, following the ticket voucher system receivingthe virtual ticket voucher identification information for the attemptedretail transaction, to reflect this transfer of one or more virtualtickets, the ticket voucher system updates a listing or log of whichvirtual ticket vouchers are associated with the user and which virtualticket vouchers are associated with the retail establishment. That is,the ticket voucher system deletes the data associated with thetransferred virtual ticket voucher from being associated with the gamingestablishment account of the user (such that, short of the same virtualticket voucher being transferred back to the mobile device of the user,that mobile device cannot be subsequently used in association with thatvirtual ticket voucher again) and adds the data associated with thetransferred virtual ticket voucher as being associated with the retailaccount of the retail establishment that sold the goods and/or services.

In another embodiment, rather than the user purchasing a ticket voucherof an amount associated with an attempted retail transaction, the retailestablishment purchases a ticket voucher of an amount associated with anattempted retail transaction. In these embodiments, upon the userpresenting an amount of funds (in any form described herein) to theretail establishment to purchase goods and/or services, the POST (or acomponent of a gaming establishment management system and/or a componentof a gaming establishment retail system located inside the POST)interfaces with the ticket voucher system to procure a ticket voucher,in paper or virtual form, associated with the amount of funds.

In certain embodiments, the system enables a user to pay for goodsand/or services at a retailer using a ticket voucher as the soleinstrument to fund the retail transaction. In certain other embodiments,the system enables a user to pay for goods and/or services at a retailerusing a ticket voucher as well as a pre-paid card. In these embodiments,since certain regulations impose spending limits on an individualpre-paid card and since the funds on such pre-paid cards may not beconverted to cash, the system disclosed herein determines, based on theamount of the attempted retail transaction and the spending limit perindividual pre-paid card, whether or not to employ a ticket voucher tocomplete an attempted retail transaction. For example, if regulationsimpose a $2000 daily spending limit on each individual pre-paid card anda user wishes to complete a retail purchase of goods and/or servicesvalued at $2500, the system determines that the user will need toutilize a pre-paid card having a balance of at least $2000 and a ticketvoucher having a balance of $500 to complete the purchase of the goodsand/or services valued at $2500.

In such embodiments wherein the system determines that the funding of anattempted retail transaction will come from both a pre-paid card and aticket voucher, the system operates with a gaming establishment fundmanagement system (which maintains an amount of funds to purchase atleast the ticket voucher), as well as the ticket voucher system (whichissues such ticket vouchers) to complete such a retail transaction. Forexample, as seen in FIG. 3 , following a determination that spendinglimit on a pre-paid card will cover less than the full cost of the goodsand/or services attempted to be purchased, through a series of messagesand actions between the retail system, such as a POST, the gamingestablishment fund management system, and the ticket voucher system, thesystem disclosed herein procures a ticket voucher (in the amount whichthe costs of the goods and/or services exceeds the spending limit on thepre-paid card) to complete the retail transaction.

In certain embodiments, following the completion of the retailtransaction utilizing a ticket voucher, the retail establishment (whomis now in possession of one or more paper ticket vouchers and/orassociated with one or more virtual ticket vouchers) needs to redeemsuch ticket vouchers for an amount of currency. In one such embodimentwherein the ticket vouchers are in paper form, the retail establishmentcan redeem such paper ticket vouchers for cash at a gaming establishmentkiosk and/or at a gaming establishment interface, such as a casino desk.In another such embodiment wherein the ticket vouchers are in paperform, the retail establishment can redeem such paper ticket vouchers foran amount of credits of an EGM.

In another such embodiment wherein the ticket vouchers are in paperform, utilizing a voucher validation unit, the retail establishment canscan the ticket voucher, wherein the ticket voucher validation unitcommunicates with the ticket voucher system to redeem the ticketvoucher. In another such embodiment wherein the ticket vouchers are inelectronic form, utilizing a voucher validation unit, the retailestablishment can select which virtual ticket vouchers associated withthe retail to redeem, wherein the ticket voucher validation unitcommunicates with the ticket voucher system to redeem the ticketvoucher. In these embodiments, as seen in FIG. 4 , through a series ofmessages and actions between the ticket voucher validation unit, theticket voucher system and various banking systems which maintain variousbanking accounts associated with the ticket voucher system and theretail establishment, the system disclosed herein enables the retailestablishment to settle the retail transaction which utilized a ticketvoucher. That is, since the virtual ticket vouchers are bearerinstruments, the retail establishment can subsequently redeem one ormore ticket vouchers by initiating a fund transfer wherein an amount offunds corresponding to the amount of the redeemed ticket vouchers aretransferred from a gaming establishment account which backs the ticketvoucher system, such as a banking account associated with the gamingestablishment to a retail establishment account, such as a bankingaccount associated with the retail establishment and the ticket vouchersystem reduces the amount of funds associated with the ticket voucheridentifier of the redeemed ticket vouchers to account for the fundtransfer.

Accordingly, the system disclosed herein utilizes ticket vouchers tocomplete retail purchases to reduce the amount of cash which a user maycarry to be used for purchasing goods and/or services. This reduction inthe amount of cash users have to carry on their person diminishes therisks that such cash may be lost or stolen (which is associated withvarious costs to the player and the gaming establishment) prior to theretail purchase. As such, the utilization of ticket vouchers to completeone or more retail transactions (and without utilizing any physicalforms of currency) expands the cashless eco-system certain gaming systemstrive for and thus overcomes various security concerns and labor costconcerns associated with cash-based retail transactions.

Funding Gaming Establishment Account

In various embodiments, the system enables an amount of funds associatedwith a gaming establishment account maintained for the user, such as agaming establishment retail account or a cashless wagering account, topurchase a ticket voucher to complete a retail purchase of goods and/orservices. In these embodiments, prior to using the funds in a gamingestablishment retail account to purchase a ticket voucher, an amount offunds must first be established or otherwise deposited in the gamingestablishment retail account. It should be appreciated that whiledescribed herein in relation to funding a gaming establishment retailaccount, the disclosed funding methods are applicable for the othergaming establishment accounts described herein.

In certain embodiments, to fund a gaming establishment retail account,the system enables a user to enroll or otherwise sign up for a gamingestablishment retail account via a user picking up a retail account cardat various locations, such as shops, throughout the gamingestablishment. In certain embodiments, the system enables a user toelectronically enroll or otherwise sign up for a gaming establishmentretail account via a mobile application running on a mobile device, apoint-of-sale terminal, an EGM and/or a kiosk. In certain embodiments,the system enables a user to enroll or otherwise sign up for a gamingestablishment retail account by adding a retail account to theirexisting player tracking account.

In certain embodiments, the creation of a gaming establishment retailaccount occurs enterprise wide upon a user (whom is not associated witha gaming establishment retail account) attempting to use an amount offunds associated with the user (i.e., funds associated with the user'sresort wallet or enterprise wallet) at a first site. In theseembodiments, upon the requested use of the funds of the user's resortwallet from a component of the system not otherwise linked to orassociated with the user's resort wallet, the system will create anenterprise wide gaming establishment retail account associated with therequesting component of the system and one or more other components ofthe system (such as one or more other individual sites of futureattempted purchases). In certain embodiments, the creation of a gamingestablishment retail account occurs via the user attempting to use anamount of funds associated with the user (i.e., funds associated withthe user's resort wallet or enterprise wallet) at an individual sitewhich was not previously associated with the user's resort wallet orenterprise wallet. In these embodiments, upon the requested use of thefunds of the user's resort wallet from a component of the system nototherwise linked to or associated with the user's resort wallet, thesystem will create a gaming establishment retail account associated withthe requesting component of the system. For example, if a user attemptsto use funds from their resort wallet at a gaming establishment retaillocation not previously linked to the user's resort wallet, prior to thesystem employing such funds to purchase one or more pre-paid cards tocomplete the retail transaction, the system will create a gamingestablishment retail account for the gaming establishment retaillocation and associate the created gaming establishment retail accountwith the user's existing resort wallet. Such dynamic account creationprovides users enhanced ease of use as they can seamlessly use theirexisting resort wallet at various new sites or locations within orotherwise associated with one or more gaming establishments.

In certain embodiments, a gaming establishment retail account isassociated with a third-party account, such as one or more credit cardaccounts, one or more debit card accounts and/or one or more third-partymaintained accounts (e.g., one or more PayPal® accounts or Venmo®accounts), from which funds are drawn from to fund the gamingestablishment retail account. In certain embodiments, the gamingestablishment retail account is associated with a gaming establishmentor a group of gaming establishments, wherein the system enables the userto establish a gaming establishment retail account by a deposit of funds(such as at a kiosk). In other embodiments, the system funds the gamingestablishment retail account via a mobile device electronic fundtransfer, such using Apple Pay™ or Android Pay™. In various embodiments,the system utilizes a mobile device running a mobile device application,a kiosk, an EGM and/or a gaming establishment interface to facilitatethis transfer of funds from a third-party account.

In certain embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in agaming establishment retail account via drawing funds from a gamingestablishment credit system which issues the user a line of credit ormarker. In certain other embodiments, the system includes one or moregaming establishment fund management systems which are each associatedwith or otherwise maintain one or more gaming establishment fundmanagement accounts for a user. In these embodiments, the gamingestablishment fund management system (which maintains a gamingestablishment fund management account for a user) is in communicationwith one or more credit systems which each issue the user one or morelines of credit or markers, wherein prior to the funds drawn from theline of credit being transferred to a gaming establishment retailaccount, such funds must first be transferred to or otherwiseestablished in the gaming establishment fund management account via oneor more lines of credits. In various embodiments, the system utilizes amobile device running a mobile device application, a kiosk, an EGMand/or a gaming establishment interface to facilitate these transfer(s)of funds from the gaming establishment credit system.

In certain embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in agaming establishment retail account via an EGM. In certain embodiments,the system enables a user that has an amount of cash to utilize an EGMto convert the cash to an amount deposited into a gaming establishmentretail account (which is subsequently utilized to purchase ticketvouchers, goods and/or services at a retail establishment, such as aretail establishment associated with a gaming establishment). In otherembodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in a gamingestablishment retail account via an EGM that accepts printed ticketvouchers. In these embodiments, the system enables a user that has oneor more printed ticket vouchers to utilize an EGM to convert the printedticket voucher to an amount deposited into a gaming establishment retailaccount (which is subsequently utilized to purchase ticket vouchers,goods and/or services at a retail establishment, such as a retailestablishment associated with a gaming establishment).

In certain embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in agaming establishment retail account via a gaming establishmentinterface, such as at a casino desk. In certain embodiments, the systemenables a user that has an amount of cash to utilize a gamingestablishment interface, such as at a casino desk to convert the cash toan amount deposited into a gaming establishment retail account (which issubsequently utilized to purchase ticket vouchers, goods and/or servicesat a retail establishment, such as a retail establishment associatedwith a gaming establishment). In other embodiments, the system enablesfunds to be deposited in a gaming establishment retail account via agaming establishment interface that accepts printed ticket vouchers. Inthese embodiments, the system enables a user that has one or moreprinted ticket vouchers to utilize a gaming establishment interface toconvert the printed ticket voucher to an amount deposited into a gamingestablishment retail account (which is subsequently utilized to purchaseticket vouchers, goods and/or services at a retail establishment, suchas a retail establishment associated with a gaming establishment).

In certain embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in agaming establishment retail account via a kiosk that accepts money. Incertain embodiments, the system enables a user that has an amount ofcash to utilize a kiosk to convert the cash to an amount deposited intoa gaming establishment retail account (which is subsequently utilized topurchase ticket vouchers, goods and/or services at a retailestablishment, such as a retail establishment associated with a gamingestablishment). In other embodiments, the system enables funds to bedeposited in a gaming establishment retail account via a kiosk thataccepts printed ticket vouchers. In these embodiments, the systemenables a user that has one or more printed ticket vouchers to utilize akiosk to convert the printed ticket voucher to an amount deposited intoa gaming establishment retail account (which is subsequently utilized topurchase ticket vouchers, goods and/or services at a retailestablishment, such as a retail establishment associated with a gamingestablishment).

In certain embodiments, the system enables a user to fund the gamingestablishment retail account independent of the mobile device andindependent of the mobile device application. In certain otherembodiments, the system enables a user to utilize a mobile devicerunning a mobile device application to fund the gaming establishmentretail account. More specifically and utilizing the example of a kiosk,in one embodiment, to utilize a mobile device and a kiosk to facilitatethe funding of a gaming establishment retail account, the userwirelessly pairs or otherwise connects a mobile device with a kiosk. Inone example embodiment, the user moves the mobile device into the rangeof a wireless receiver of the kiosk. The kiosk and the launched oractivated mobile device application of the mobile device negotiate asecure, authenticated connection with the proper functionality, versionsand security settings. It should be appreciated that the kioskwirelessly connects with the mobile device running the mobile deviceapplication in the same or similar fashion to how a mobile device ispaired or connected with an EGM as described herein.

After connecting the mobile device to the kiosk, the kiosk prompts theuser to deposit an amount of funds into the kiosk. In one suchembodiment, the kiosk prompts the user to insert one or more bills intoa bill acceptor of the kiosk. In another such embodiment, the kioskadditionally or alternatively prompts the user to deposit a physicalticket voucher (associated with an amount of funds) into the kiosk. Inanother such embodiment, the kiosk additionally or alternatively promptsthe user to deposit a card associated with an external account, such asa credit card or debit card into the kiosk. In another such embodiment,the kiosk additionally or alternatively prompts the user to enterinformation associated with an external account, such as a credit cardaccount, a PayPal® account, a Venmo® account, or a debit card accountinto the kiosk. In another such embodiment, the kiosk additionally oralternatively prompts the user to deposit an amount of funds into thekiosk using a mobile device electronic fund transfer, such using ApplePay™ or Android Pay™.

In one embodiment, after a first amount of funds is accepted, such asafter a first bill or unit of currency is accepted, by the kiosk, thekiosk and/or the mobile device application enable the user to transferthe deposited amount of funds (e.g., a “Load Phone Now” button) orcontinue to deposit additional amounts of funds with the kiosk. Incertain embodiments, upon receiving an amount of funds from the user andthe user indicating to transfer the deposited amount of funds inassociation with the mobile device application, the kiosk communicateswith one or more servers, such as a gaming establishment retail server,to transfer an amount of money to a gaming establishment retail account(to be subsequently utilized to purchase ticket vouchers, goods and/orservices at a retail establishment, such as a retail establishmentassociated with a gaming establishment).

It should be appreciated that while the above example embodiments aredescribed in relation to utilizing a mobile device to facilitate thetransferring one or more amounts of money or units of currency from akiosk to a gaming establishment retail account, such example embodimentsmay also be used to transfer, either as an isolated transaction or aspart of an operation mode of the EGM, one or more amounts of money orunits of currency from an EGM to a gaming establishment retail accountand/or from a gaming establishment interface, such as a casino desk, toa gaming establishment retail account.

It should be further appreciated that the employing of one or moreticket vouchers to complete a retail transaction utilizes one or morecomponents of the gaming establishment fund management system, theticket voucher system and/or the gaming establishment retail system.Such components of the gaming establishment fund management system, theticket voucher system, and/or gaming establishment retail system includeone or more servers (which maintain one or more gaming establishmentaccounts for the user and facilitate the transfer of funds from suchgaming establishment accounts to one or more ticket vouchers), and/orone or more ticket voucher creators (which facilitate the generation ofone or more ticket vouchers for redemption at one or more POSTs tocomplete one or more purchases of goods and/or services). In theseembodiments, such components of the gaming establishment fund managementsystem, ticket voucher system, and/or the gaming establishment retailsystem each include a controller including at least one processor. Theat least one processor is any suitable processing device or set ofprocessing devices, such as a microprocessor, a microcontroller-basedplatform, a suitable integrated circuit, or one or moreapplication-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), configured to executesoftware enabling various configuration and reconfiguration tasks, suchas: (1) communicating with a remote source (such as a server that storesauthentication information or fund information) via a communicationinterface of the controller; (2) converting signals read by an interfaceto a format corresponding to that used by software or memory of thecomponent of the gaming establishment fund management system, ticketvoucher system, and/or gaming establishment retail system; (3) accessingmemory to configure or reconfigure parameters in the memory according toindicia read from the component of the gaming establishment fundmanagement system, ticket voucher system, and/or gaming establishmentretail system; (4) communicating with interfaces and the peripheraldevices (such as input/output devices); and/or (5) controlling theperipheral devices. In certain embodiments, one or more components ofthe controller (such as the at least one processor) reside within ahousing of the component of the gaming establishment fund managementsystem, ticket voucher system, and/or gaming establishment retailsystem, while in other embodiments, at least one component of thecontroller resides outside of the housing of the component of the gamingestablishment fund management system, ticket voucher system, and/orgaming establishment retail system.

The controller also includes at least one memory device, which includes:(1) volatile memory (e.g., RAM which can include non-volatile RAM,magnetic RAM, ferroelectric RAM, and any other suitable forms); (2)non-volatile memory (e.g., disk memory, FLASH memory, EPROMs, EEPROMs,memristor-based non-volatile solid-state memory, etc.); (3) unalterablememory (e.g., EPROMs); (4) read-only memory; and/or (5) a secondarymemory storage device, such as a non-volatile memory device, configuredto store software related information (the software related informationand the memory may be used to store various files not currently beingused and invoked in a configuration or reconfiguration). Any othersuitable magnetic, optical, and/or semiconductor memory may operate inconjunction with the component of the gaming establishment fundmanagement system, ticket voucher system, and/or gaming establishmentretail system disclosed herein. In certain embodiments, the at least onememory device resides within the housing of the component of the gamingestablishment fund management system, ticket voucher system, and/orgaming establishment retail system, while in other embodiments at leastone component of the at least one memory device resides outside of thehousing of the component of the gaming establishment fund managementsystem, ticket voucher system, and/or gaming establishment retailsystem. In these embodiments, any combination of one or more computerreadable media may be utilized. The computer readable media may be acomputer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. Acomputer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limitedto, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or semiconductorsystem, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of thecomputer readable storage medium would include the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), an appropriate optical fiber with a repeater, aportable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program codeembodied on a computer readable signal medium may be transmitted usingany appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline,optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of theforegoing.

The at least one memory device is configured to store, for example: (1)configuration software, such as all the parameters and settings on thecomponent of the gaming establishment fund management system, ticketvoucher system, and/or gaming establishment retail system; (2)associations between configuration indicia read from a component of thegaming establishment fund management system with one or more parametersand settings; (3) communication protocols configured to enable the atleast one processor to communicate with the peripheral devices; and/or(4) communication transport protocols (such as TCP/IP, USB, Firewire,IEEE1394, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11x (IEEE 802.11 standards), hiperlan/2,HomeRF, etc.) configured to enable the component of the gamingestablishment fund management system, ticket voucher system, and/orgaming establishment retail system to communicate with local andnon-local devices using such protocols. In one implementation, thecontroller communicates with other devices using a serial communicationprotocol. A few non-limiting examples of serial communication protocolsthat other devices, such as peripherals (e.g., a bill validator or aticket printer), may use to communicate with the controller include USB,RS-232, and Netplex (a proprietary protocol developed by IGT).

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentdisclosure may be illustrated and described herein in any of a number ofpatentable classes or context including any new and useful process,machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and usefulimprovement thereof. Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure maybe implemented entirely hardware, entirely software (including firmware,resident software, micro-code, etc.) or combining software and hardwareimplementation that may all generally be referred to herein as a“circuit,” “module,” “component,” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects ofthe present disclosure may take the form of a computer program productembodied in one or more computer readable media having computer readableprogram code embodied thereon.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent disclosure may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C++, C#, VB.NET,Python or the like, conventional procedural programming languages, suchas the “C” programming language, Visual Basic, Fortran 2003, Perl, COBOL2002, PHP, ABAP, dynamic programming languages such as Python, Ruby andGroovy, or other programming languages. The program code may executeentirely on the player's computer, partly on the player's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the player's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to theplayer's computer through any type of network, including a local areanetwork (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may bemade to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using anInternet Service Provider) or in a cloud computing environment oroffered as a service such as a Software as a Service (SaaS).

Aspects of the present disclosure are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatuses(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of thedisclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable instruction executionapparatus, create a mechanism for implementing the functions/actsspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that when executed can direct a computer, otherprogrammable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function ina particular manner, such that the instructions when stored in thecomputer readable medium produce an article of manufacture includinginstructions which when executed, cause a computer to implement thefunction/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable instruction execution apparatus, or otherdevices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on thecomputer, other programmable apparatuses or other devices to produce acomputer implemented process such that the instructions which execute onthe computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

In certain embodiments, the at least one memory device is configured tostore program code and instructions executable by the at least oneprocessor of the component of the gaming establishment fund managementsystem, ticket voucher system, and/or gaming establishment retail systemto control the component of the gaming establishment fund managementsystem, ticket voucher system, and/or gaming establishment retailsystem. In various embodiments, part or all of the program code and/orthe operating data described above is stored in at least one detachableor removable memory device including, but not limited to, a cartridge, adisk, a CD ROM, a DVD, a USB memory device, or any other suitablenon-transitory computer readable medium. In certain such embodiments, anoperator (such as a gaming establishment operator) and/or a user usessuch a removable memory device in a component of the gamingestablishment fund management system to implement at least part of thepresent disclosure. In other embodiments, part or all of the programcode and/or the operating data is downloaded to the at least one memorydevice of the component of the gaming establishment fund managementsystem, ticket voucher system, and/or gaming establishment retail systemthrough any suitable data network described above (such as an Internetor intranet).

The at least one memory device also stores a plurality of devicedrivers. Examples of different types of device drivers include devicedrivers for component of the gaming establishment fund management systemcomponents and device drivers for the peripheral components. Typically,the device drivers utilize various communication protocols that enablecommunication with a particular physical device. The device driverabstracts the hardware implementation of that device. For example, adevice driver may be written for each type of card reader that couldpotentially be connected to the component of the gaming establishmentfund management system, ticket voucher system, and/or gamingestablishment retail system. Non-limiting examples of communicationprotocols used to implement the device drivers include Netplex, USB,Serial, Ethernet, Firewire, I/O debouncer, direct memory map, serial,PCI, parallel, RF, Bluetooth™, near-field communications (e.g., usingnear-field magnetics), 802.11 (WiFi), etc. In one embodiment, when onetype of a particular device is exchanged for another type of theparticular device, the at least one processor of the component of thegaming establishment fund management system, ticket voucher system,and/or gaming establishment retail system loads the new device driverfrom the at least one memory device to enable communication with the newdevice. For instance, one type of card reader in the component of thegaming establishment fund management system, ticket voucher system,and/or gaming establishment retail system can be replaced with a seconddifferent type of card reader when device drivers for both card readersare stored in the at least one memory device.

In certain embodiments, the software units stored in the at least onememory device can be upgraded as needed. For instance, when the at leastone memory device is a hard drive, new parameters, new settings forexisting parameters, new settings for new parameters, new devicedrivers, and new communication protocols can be uploaded to the at leastone memory device from the controller or from some other externaldevice. As another example, when the at least one memory device includesa CD/DVD drive including a CD/DVD configured to store options,parameters, and settings, the software stored in the at least one memorydevice can be upgraded by replacing a first CD/DVD with a second CD/DVD.In yet another example, when the at least one memory device uses flashmemory or EPROM units configured to store options, parameters, andsettings, the software stored in the flash and/or EPROM memory units canbe upgraded by replacing one or more memory units with new memory unitsthat include the upgraded software. In another embodiment, one or moreof the memory devices, such as the hard drive, may be employed in asoftware download process from a remote software server.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory device also storesauthentication and/or validation components configured toauthenticate/validate specified component of the gaming establishmentfund management system components and/or information, such as hardwarecomponents, software components, firmware components, peripheral devicecomponents, user input device components, information received from oneor more user input devices, information stored in the at least onememory device, etc.

In certain embodiments, the peripheral devices include several deviceinterfaces, such as, but not limited to: (1) at least one output deviceincluding at least one display device; (2) at least one input device(which may include contact and/or non-contact interfaces); (3) at leastone transponder; (4) at least one wireless communication component; (5)at least one wired/wireless power distribution component; (6) at leastone sensor; (7) at least one data preservation component; (8) at leastone motion/gesture analysis and interpretation component; (9) at leastone motion detection component; (10) at least one portable power source;(11) at least one geolocation module; (12) at least one useridentification module; (13) at least one user/device tracking module;and (14) at least one information filtering module.

Mobile Device Communications

As indicated above, in various embodiments, one or more actions occurbetween a mobile device and one or more components of the gamingestablishment fund management system, the ticket voucher system, and/orthe gaming establishment retail system, via one or more wirelesscommunication protocols between the mobile device and the component ofthe gaming establishment fund management system, the ticket vouchersystem, and/or the gaming establishment retail system.

In certain embodiments, the communication with the mobile device canoccur through one or more wireless interfaces of the component of thegaming establishment fund management system, the ticket voucher system,and/or the gaming establishment retail system. In one embodiment, thewireless interface is integrated into the cabinet of the component ofthe gaming establishment fund management system, the ticket vouchersystem, and/or the gaming establishment retail system and the processorof the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, theticket voucher system, and/or the gaming establishment retail system isconfigured to communicate directly with and send control commands to thewireless interface. In another embodiment, the wireless interface isintegrated into a device mounted to and/or within the cabinet of thecomponent of the gaming establishment fund management system, the ticketvoucher system, and/or the gaming establishment retail system. Incertain embodiments where the wireless interface is embedded in asecondary device, the processor of the component of the gamingestablishment fund management system, the ticket voucher system, and/orthe gaming establishment retail system sends control commands to controlthe wireless interface via a secondary controller.

In certain embodiments which utilize a near field communication (NFC)implementation, the mobile device application registers a mobile deviceapplication with one or more processors of the mobile device. In theseembodiments, when the mobile device is detected by an NFC reader of acomponent of the gaming establishment fund management system, the ticketvoucher system, and/or the gaming establishment retail system, thecomponent of the gaming establishment fund management system, the ticketvoucher system, and/or the gaming establishment retail systemcommunicates one or more data messages to the mobile device (or to oneor more servers which then communicate such data messages to the mobiledevice). Such data messages are commands generated by the component ofthe gaming establishment fund management system, the ticket vouchersystem, and/or the gaming establishment retail system when the mobiledevice is detected in the NFC reader field. The processor of the mobiledevice communicates the data message to the mobile device application.The mobile device application responds, such as communicating atriggering message, and a communication channel is opened between thecomponent of the gaming establishment fund management system, the ticketvoucher system, and/or the gaming establishment retail system and themobile device application (or between the component of the gamingestablishment fund management system, the ticket voucher system, and/orthe gaming establishment retail system, one or more servers and themobile device application). This open communication channel enables thecomponent of the gaming establishment fund management system, the ticketvoucher system, and/or the gaming establishment retail system to send,though the NFC reader, additional data messages to the mobile device (orto the mobile device via one or more servers) which are responded to bythe mobile device application of the mobile device. It should beappreciated that as long as the mobile device remains within the NFCfield, the component of the gaming establishment fund management system,the ticket voucher system, and/or the gaming establishment retail systemis configured to communicate with the mobile device and send data, suchas status updates, as necessary. However, once the mobile device isremoved from the NFC field, the communication channel is closed and suchstatus updates must be discontinued.

In other embodiments, the wireless interface implements a Wi-Fi,cellular and/or Bluetooth™ communications protocol to facilitate thecommunication of data between the mobile device and the component of thegaming establishment fund management system, the ticket voucher system,and/or the gaming establishment retail system. In such embodiments,Bluetooth™ pairing occurs when two Bluetooth devices agree tocommunicate with each other and establish a connection. In order to pairtwo Bluetooth wireless devices, a password (passkey) is exchangedbetween the two devices. The Passkey is a code shared by both Bluetoothdevices, which proves that both users have agreed to pair with eachother. After the passkey code is exchanged, an encrypted communicationcan be set up between the pair devices. In Wi-Fi paring, every pairingcan be set up with WPA2 encryption or another type of encryption schemeto keep the transfer private. Wi-Fi Direct is an example of a protocolthat can be used to establish point-to-point communications between twoWi-Fi devices. The protocol enables for a Wi-Fi device pair directlywith another without having to first join a local network.

It should be appreciated that Wi-Fi, cellular or Bluetooth™communication protocols can be used in lieu of or in combination withNFC. For instance, an NFC communication can be used to instantiate aWi-Fi or Bluetooth™ communication between the component of the gamingestablishment fund management system, the ticket voucher system, and/orthe gaming establishment retail system, zero, one or more servers and amobile device, such as secure pairing using one of these protocols. Thatis, in one embodiment, an NFC interface on a component of the gamingestablishment fund management system, the ticket voucher system, and/orthe gaming establishment retail system can be used to set-up a higherspeed communication between the component of the gaming establishmentfund management system, the ticket voucher system, and/or the gamingestablishment retail system, zero, one or more servers and the NFCenabled mobile device. The higher speed communication rates can be usedfor expanded content sharing. For instance, a NFC and Bluetooth enabledcomponent of the gaming establishment fund management system, the ticketvoucher system, and/or the gaming establishment retail system can betapped by an NFC and Bluetooth enabled mobile device for instantBluetooth pairing between the devices and zero, one or more servers.Instant Bluetooth pairing between a component of the gamingestablishment fund management system, the ticket voucher system, and/orthe gaming establishment retail system, an NFC enabled mobile device andzero, one or more servers, can save searching, waiting, and enteringcodes. In another example, a component of the gaming establishment fundmanagement system, the ticket voucher system, and/or the gamingestablishment retail system can be configured as an NFC enabled router,such as a router supporting a Wi-Fi communication standard. Tapping anNFC enabled mobile device to an NFC enabled and Wi-Fi enabled componentof the gaming establishment fund management system, the ticket vouchersystem, and/or the gaming establishment retail system can be used toestablish a Wi-Fi connection between the devices and zero, one or moreservers.

In certain embodiments which implement a Wi-Fi, cellular and/orBluetooth™ communications protocol, the system utilizes one or more QRcodes generated by the component of the gaming establishment fundmanagement system, the ticket voucher system, and/or the gamingestablishment retail system to facilitate the communication of databetween the mobile device and the system. In such embodiments, the QRcode is used to identify the component of the gaming establishment fundmanagement system, the ticket voucher system, and/or the gamingestablishment retail system that is displaying the QR code to identifythe server to which the mobile device should connect. It should beappreciated that the QR code enables the system to establish a securetunnel or path from the mobile device to the gaming establishment'sWi-Fi network and then to the gaming establishment's wired network andfinally to the component of the gaming establishment fund managementsystem, the ticket voucher system, and/or the gaming establishmentretail system. In these embodiments, a communication tunnel wrapper(i.e., a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth™ tunnel wrapper) is utilized to establish aconnection between the system and the mobile device and to transport anydata messages described herein between the component of the gamingestablishment fund management system, the ticket voucher system, and/orthe gaming establishment retail system, zero, one or more servers andthe mobile device.

More specifically, in certain embodiments, the user requests, via aninput at the component of the gaming establishment fund managementsystem, the ticket voucher system, and/or the gaming establishmentretail system and/or the mobile device, the generation of a QR code bythe component of the gaming establishment fund management system, theticket voucher system, and/or the gaming establishment retail system. Inresponse to the user's request, the component of the gamingestablishment fund management system, the ticket voucher system, and/orthe gaming establishment retail system displays a QR code. In certainembodiments, the QR code includes a nonce which prevents a third-party(e.g., another user) from sniping the user's login attempt. Such anon-demand QR code remains valid for a designated amount of time suchthat if the user does not scan the QR code within the designated amountof time, another QR code is necessary to be scanned to connect themobile device to the component of the gaming establishment fundmanagement system, the ticket voucher system, and/or the gamingestablishment retail system.

In these embodiments, the user scans the QR code with the mobile deviceapplication. If the system determines that the QR code is valid (i.e.,not expired), the mobile device application will connect to the system.It should be appreciated that as long as the established connectionbetween the mobile device and the system remains active, one or moresystem servers and mobile device may communicate data, such as statusupdates, as necessary. It should be further appreciated that inassociation with the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth™ or mobile device networkcommunications protocol described herein, any action requested by theuser via the mobile device application does not require a new engagementbetween the mobile device and the component of the gaming establishmentfund management system, the ticket voucher system, and/or the gamingestablishment retail system, such as a new scanning of the QR code tosend such a requested action from the mobile device to the component ofthe gaming establishment fund management system, the ticket vouchersystem, and/or the gaming establishment retail system (or to send arequested action from the mobile device to one or more servers and thenfrom one or more servers to the component of the gaming establishmentfund management system, the ticket voucher system, and/or the gamingestablishment retail system).

In certain embodiments, following the scanning of a valid QR code, themobile device application connects to one or more servers. In certainembodiments, after establishing a connection with one or more servers,the mobile device application transmits a connect command to the system.In response to receiving a connect command from the mobile device, thesystem sends a message to the mobile device. This message serves toencapsulate various commands between the system and the mobile device.In these embodiments, if the mobile device application does not receivethis message within a designated period of time, such as within fiveseconds, the mobile device application displays an error message to theuser and directs the user to rescan the QR code.

In addition to the connect command communicated from the mobile deviceapplication to the system, the mobile device application of theseembodiments is configured to send a disconnect command to the system.Such a disconnect command functions to tear-down the connection theserver. It should be appreciated that if the mobile device connection issevered before this command is received by the system, the sever sendsthis command on behalf of the mobile device application;

In another embodiment, the mobile device application is configured tosend a trigger command to the system, such as a component of the gamingestablishment fund management system, the ticket voucher system, and/orthe gaming establishment retail system. In this embodiment, the triggercommand is associated with an action requested by the user. In suchembodiments, when the system receives the trigger command from themobile device application, the system will communicate the appropriaterequests to the mobile device application. If the mobile deviceapplication does not receive these requests within a designated amountof time, such as five seconds, the mobile device application willdisplay an error message to the user and enable the user to retry therequested action.

In other embodiments, the mobile device application communicates withthe system through a tunnel established over the mobile device's Wi-FInetwork or the mobile device's network connection. In such embodiments,the mobile device application will connect to one or more system serverswhich use websockets secured with a transport layer security protocol.The system server operates with one or more translators, similarly usingwebsockets secured with a transport layer security protocol tocommunicate data to the component of the gaming establishment fundmanagement system, the ticket voucher system, and/or the gamingestablishment retail system.

In certain embodiments which utilize the NFC communication protocoldescribed herein, which utilize the Wi-Fi, cellular and/or Bluetooth™communication protocols described herein and/or which utilize any othercommunication protocol described herein, any action requested by theuser via the mobile device application requires a new engagement betweenthe mobile device and the component of the gaming establishment fundmanagement system, the ticket voucher system, and/or the gamingestablishment retail system, such as a new tap of the mobile device to acard reader or other designated location(s) of the component of thegaming establishment fund management system, the ticket voucher system,and/or the gaming establishment retail system. In certain otherembodiments which utilize the NFC communication protocol describedherein, which utilize the Wi-Fi, cellular and/or Bluetooth™communication protocols described herein and/or which utilize any othercommunication protocol described herein, certain actions requested bythe user via the mobile device application requires a new engagementbetween the mobile device and the component of the gaming establishmentfund management system, the ticket voucher system, and/or the gamingestablishment retail system, such as a new tap of the mobile device to acard reader or other designated location(s) of the component of thegaming establishment fund management system, the ticket voucher system,and/or the gaming establishment retail system and other actionsrequested by the user via the mobile device application do not requireany new engagement between the mobile device and the component of thegaming establishment fund management system, the ticket voucher system,and/or the gaming establishment retail system.

It should be appreciated that while certain data or informationpertaining to one or more of the requested actions are communicatedbetween a component of the gaming establishment fund management system,the ticket voucher system, and/or the gaming establishment retail systemand a mobile device, such data or information may additionally oralternatively be communicated: (i) between one or more servers and amobile device via one or more wireless communication protocols, or (ii)between a component of the gaming establishment fund management system,the ticket voucher system, and/or the gaming establishment retail systemand one or more servers via one or more wireless communication protocolsand then from one or more servers to a mobile device via one or morewireless communication protocols.

It should additionally be appreciated that any functionality or processdescribed herein may be implemented via one or more servers, a componentof the gaming establishment fund management system, the ticket vouchersystem, and/or the gaming establishment retail system, or a mobiledevice application. For example, while certain data or informationdescribed herein is explained as being communicated from a component ofthe gaming establishment fund management system, the ticket vouchersystem, and/or the gaming establishment retail system to a mobile devicevia one or more wireless communication protocols, such data orinformation may additionally or alternatively be communicated from oneor more servers to a mobile device via one or more wirelesscommunication protocols. Accordingly: (i) while certain functions,features or processes are described herein as being performed by acomponent of the gaming establishment fund management system, the ticketvoucher system, and/or the gaming establishment retail system, suchfunctions, features or processes may alternatively be performed by oneor more servers, or one or more mobile device applications, (ii) whilecertain functions, features or processes are described herein as beingperformed by one or more mobile device applications, such functions,features or processes may alternatively be performed by one or moreservers, or one or more components of the gaming establishment fundmanagement system, the ticket voucher system, and/or the gamingestablishment retail systems, (iii) while certain functions, features orprocesses are described herein as being performed by one or moreservers, such functions, features or processes may alternatively beperformed by one or more components of the gaming establishment fundmanagement system, the ticket voucher system, and/or the gamingestablishment retail systems, or one or more mobile device applications,and (iv) while certain functions, features or processes are describedherein as being performed by one or more components of the gamingestablishment fund management system, the ticket voucher system, and/orthe gaming establishment retail system, such functions, features orprocesses may alternatively be performed by one or more mobile deviceapplications, or one or more servers.

It should be appreciated that the terminology used herein is for thepurpose of describing particular aspects only and is not intended to belimiting of the disclosure. For example, the singular forms “a”, “an”and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless thecontext clearly indicates otherwise. In another example, the terms“including” and “comprising” and variations thereof, when used in thisspecification, specify the presence of stated features, steps,operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations,elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Additionally, a listing ofitems does not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusivenor does a listing of items imply that any or all of the items arecollectively exhaustive of anything or in a particular order, unlessexpressly specified otherwise. Moreover, as used herein, the term“and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items. It should be further appreciated that headingsof sections provided in this document and the title are for convenienceonly, and are not to be taken as limiting the disclosure in any way.Furthermore, unless expressly specified otherwise, devices that are incommunication with each other need not be in continuous communicationwith each other and may communicate directly or indirectly through oneor more intermediaries.

Various changes and modifications to the present embodiments describedherein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, adescription of an embodiment with several components in communicationwith each other does not imply that all such components are required, orthat each of the disclosed components must communicate with every othercomponent. On the contrary a variety of optional components aredescribed to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of thepresent disclosure. As such, these changes and modifications can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present subjectmatter and without diminishing its intended technical scope. It istherefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by theappended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:
 1. A system comprising: aprocessor; and a memory device that stores a plurality of instructionsthat, when executed by the processor following a ticket voucherassociated with a first amount of funds transferred from a gamingestablishment account to an account associated with a ticket vouchersystem being created in association with a retail purchase andresponsive to an occurrence of a ticket voucher redemption event, causethe processor to cause a transfer of the first amount of fundsassociated with the ticket voucher from the account associated with theticket voucher system to an account associated with a retail system. 2.The system of claim 1, wherein the first amount of funds associated withthe ticket voucher comprises less than an amount of the retail purchase.3. The system of claim 1, wherein an amount of the retail purchase isassociated with the first amount of funds associated with the ticketvoucher and a second amount of funds associated with a balance of apre-paid card.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the second amount offunds associated with the balance of the pre-paid card is no more than apre-paid card spending amount limit associated with the pre-paid card.5. The system of claim 1, wherein the ticket voucher system comprises aticket voucher system maintained in association with the retail system.6. The system of claim 1, wherein the ticket voucher comprises a virtualticket voucher.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the ticket vouchercomprises a paper ticket voucher printed in association with the retailpurchase.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the gaming establishmentaccount comprises a gaming establishment retail account.
 9. The systemof claim 1, wherein the gaming establishment account comprises acashless wagering account.
 10. A system comprising: a processor; and amemory device that stores a plurality of instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor responsive to a ticket voucher creation eventoccurring in association with a completed retail purchase and a transferof an amount of funds from a gaming establishment account to an accountassociated with a ticket voucher system, cause the processor to cause aprinter associated with the retail system to print a ticket voucherassociated with the amount of funds.
 11. The system of claim 10, whereinthe completed retail purchase is associated with a transfer of an amountof a balance of a pre-paid card to an account associated with a retailsystem.
 12. A method of operating a system, the method comprising:following a ticket voucher associated with a first amount of fundstransferred from a gaming establishment account to an account associatedwith a ticket voucher system being created in association with a retailpurchase and responsive to an occurrence of a ticket voucher redemptionevent, causing, by a processor, a transfer of the first amount of fundsassociated with the ticket voucher from the account associated with theticket voucher system to an account associated with a retail system. 13.The method of claim 12, wherein the first amount of funds associatedwith the ticket voucher comprises less than an amount of the retailpurchase.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein an amount of the retailpurchase is associated with the first amount of funds associated withthe ticket voucher and a second amount of funds associated with abalance of a pre-paid card.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein thesecond amount of funds associated with the balance of the pre-paid cardis no more than a pre-paid card spending amount limit associated withthe pre-paid card.
 16. The method of claim 12, wherein the ticketvoucher system comprises a ticket voucher system maintained inassociation with the retail system.
 17. The method of claim 12, whereinthe ticket voucher comprises a virtual ticket voucher.
 18. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the ticket voucher comprises a paper ticket voucherprinted in association with the retail purchase.
 19. The method of claim12, wherein the gaming establishment account comprises a gamingestablishment retail account.
 20. The method of claim 12, wherein thegaming establishment account comprises a cashless wagering account.